When this whole “Occupy” movement started back on September 17th, the crew of kids down on Wall Street seemed like a harmless but well-meaning group of people. Yes, a lot of us poked gentle fun at them, but at the time, the original group was so small that nobody was really paying attention to what their core beliefs were.
After a month in the trenches, these kids who started out as wide-eyed idealists down with “the cause” are starting to get gobsmacked with lessons that they would most likely never have learned in classrooms filled with theoretical situations and simple, elegant solutions.
In the classroom of “Real Life”, these kids are rapidly finding out that Marxism, Socialism, Communism, and/or Anarchy aren’t all that they are cracked up to be. We can only hope that they will take away some valuable lessons from this experience.
The "Guy Fawkes" mask is very popular with wanna-be Anarchists....
Many of these kids who consider themselves part of “the 99%” are finding out that in their new social experiment/Utopian paradise, they have become “the 1%”. Goodness knows, they’re certainly EATING better than 99% of the population:
[L]ast night, for example, while your family of four may have been forced to resort to Hamburger Helper, thanks to Smith’s culinary magic, hordes of Occupy Wall Street protesters instead feasted on organic chicken, spaghetti Bolognese, roasted beet and sheep’s milk-cheese salad and wild heirloom potatoes.
LESSON: When people know that they are going to get things for free, a LOT of people will show up with their hand out. Eventually, rationing will have to be implemented:
Poor dears only got ONE meatball with their Spaghetti Bolognese.....
They are finding out that they aren’t nearly as eager to purchase lavish things if they are expected to pay for those things themselves. If somebody else is footing the bill, they figure “the movement” can purchase whatever they may need, regardless of the cost:
[One protester] had more immediate ideas for the money as she cleaned the park pavement with a broom and dustpan Tuesday. She hoped the fund will buy her “a new broom that really sweeps.” When asked if she might buy one herself, she said, “Are you kidding? These things are expensive in Manhattan!”
LESSON: People are always more careful with money they have earned than with money that is given to them. Always.
Why use your own money when you can use other peoples' money to pay for stuff?
They are finding out that there are plenty of people who are perfectly happy to take what they can get, without giving anything in return:
“It’s turning into us against them……They come in here and they’re looking at it as a way of getting a free meal and a place to crash, which is totally fine, but they don’t bring anything to the table at all. It gets really frustrating.”
LESSON: If people know that they can get something without having to work for it, they aren’t going to work for it.
But I thought their motto was "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need"?
They are finding out that when people don’t have a personal stake in something, they aren’t nearly as concerned with taking care of it:
“People just sit here — they think this is a vacation,” said a member of Occupy Wall Street’s sanitation team. “This is an occupation. This is not a squatters’ paradise….
LESSON: If a person isn’t personally invested in something, they aren’t going to be inclined to work hard at it.
Reports say there is more trash in Zucotti Park now than there was before last week's clean-up.
In what is perhaps the biggest irony of all, these kids are finding out that they don’t appreciate being told they have to “share their wealth” with people who want to take the nice things that they have, any more than “the 1%” that they are protesting do:
….packs of brazen crooks within their ranks have been robbing their fellow demonstrators blind, making off with pricey cameras, phones and laptops – and even a hefty bundle of donated cash and food. [One] volunteer was furious about the thievery – and vowed to get tough with the predatory perps: “I’m not getting paid, but I’m not gonna stand for it.”
Listen, cupcake – if you have a laptop that costs $5,500, not only are you “the 1%”, you are by default the “wealthiest of the wealthy”. You should be HAPPY to give up some of what you have to those less fortunate than you. After all – at some point, you really have “enough” of a computer….
LESSON: Everybody looks like the 1% to somebody.
So now they know how it feels to be “the wealthiest 1%” of a group, as opposed to “the 99%”. All of a sudden, THEY are the ones being told that they aren’t paying “their fair share”. Somebody put it in perfect perspective for them just the other day:
Dear protesters,
Don’t think of them as thieves.
Think of them as tax collectors.
How does it feel?
Welcome to the 1%, boys and girls…..
Just shut up and pay your fair share......
.
[Cross-posted at RedState]
Koch's Tour 
Nice post. I have basically the same feeling; the smart kids in the crowd will simply learn a lesson, and be converted. The others were destined to be bottom feeders and no amount of real life will change it.
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Methinks that the ones who could have been converted have left by now; it sounds like the hardcore “revolutionaries” and the hangers-on/homeless are the ones who are left….
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/10/occupy_animal_farm_the_organiz.html?mid=twitter_DailyIntel
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Well Done. I recently saw a request from Occupy Boston that contained a list of items for their ‘occupation’. These kids are so lazy they can’t even plan a protest without help. I have writen a similar piece but took a different angle – the OWS movement shows what decades of liberal policies produce. For those interested, you can find it here.
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(Fixed your link for you!) I really liked your post (thanks for the warning on those videos – yeesh…..)! Thanks for visiting my place; hope you’ll come back.
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thanks for fixing the link – sorry about that!
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No problem – I want other people to be able to read your post!
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I am just so proud of you and your abilities with the written word – you make your points very well.
I love you,
Mom
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Awww – thanks so much, mom!
Love you, too – ♥♥♥
(Thanks for the birthday present!)
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Love this.
But disagree that people learn and will be converted. I tend to think the strawmen imagery combined with a strain of sociopathic commitment to the cause means our leftist friends will merely shift blame to banks for setbacks.
It’s never *their* fault, they’re the good guys or have good intentions (as the very wise Dennis Prager is apt to say “Liberalism means never having to say you’re sorry, because you mean well”
If the banks would just be taxed more people wouldn’t need to steal the laptops, etc..
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I think that some of them might eventually (i.e., When they get married, get real jobs, are paying a mortgage, and putting braces on the kids’ teeth) get it. Some of them will “see the light” and turn to the Republican/Tea Party, others will become Limousine Liberals, still others will see the cause through to the end….
There’s more of us than them, though!
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First time here, Teresa. Thank you for taking the time to lay out a coherent “illustrated” storyline to make your point. Great job!
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Thanks for coming by – I really appreciate you stopping by, and I hope you’ll come back!
I figure pictures always make a story more fun to read; that’s why I include them (plus, sometimes those suckers can make a point faster in 1 second than I can in 5 paragraphs!).
Thank you for the kind words 🙂
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I saw your link in the comments at Hotair, very well done post. Thank you for the interesting read!
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Thank you so much!
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Teresa,
I stumbled across this post and your blog by virtue of a link over at Hot Air and wanted to say that I enjoy your post, love the clean, simple appearance of your blog, and appreciate your effort.
What is especially rich are the evocative pics in this post; I just cannot tell you the anguish I feel for the young lady who is “very upset”.
(What did Ferris Beuller’s sister say? “Yeah, right. Dry that one out and you can fertilize the lawn.”)
Anyway, persevere and thanks for your effort. I shall return.
TWP
http://warplanner.blogspot.com
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Oh, thank you so very much! I’ve read your blog and enjoy it very much, indeed.
And yeah, I share your anguish for that poor little girl…..(snort)
I look forward to having you visit again ~
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Your blog just gets better and better!
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Hi Teresa! Ditto to the above!! I also stumbled onto your blog from a link on HotAir! I “shared” it with my 5,000 friends on facebook!! I will include the link below so you can check out the comments I get there. I enjoyed your perspective and will be back to read more! Keep up the great work!
Ralph
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Thank you so much, and thanks for sharing the post – I appreciate it!
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Just FYI, that young lady is very upset with a designer scarf.
And really, as much as I would lurve for them to learn reality’s lessons, I don’t think they will. It’s too much work to learn new tricks.
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Yeah, and she’s got that whole “I’m posing while my friend gets the perfect picture” look on her face. It’s the whole “Suffering Socialist” package!
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Designer scarf???!!
She’s wearing a keffiyeh, the terrorist scarf of the PLO!!!
Nothing stylish there I’m afraid…
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Great write up, Teresa. I was just discussing this with a friend today … that in this microcosm, their ill-thought, untested theories are being put to the test and they are failing. We wondered together if any would see those as lessons, step back and apply them to the real world, perhaps have an epiphany?
In the end, I figured not, although I think many of the younger ones will learn simply by being disabused of their notions by reality. I mean, quotes like the one below … can they honestly not see the irony?
[Glaser said. “This is its own city. Within every city there are people who freeload, who make people’s lives miserable. We just deal with it. We can’t kick them out.”]
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That story in New York magazine put a smile on my face that hasn’t gone away….. 😛
Unfortunately, the irony is lost on way too many of them ~
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It is a fascinating microcosm of why all of those other economic/governmental systems ALWAYS fail, isn’t it?
If only they had professors who understood HOW to capitalize on this; alas, their profs probably did the same thing back in the 60’s…..
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Sigh… this is what happens when American history is tossed aside for “[Your Grievance Group Here]” Studies. If these saps had learned about the Plymouth Plantation they’d have know their cunning collectivist plan was doomed from the get-go.
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Sadly, no….
EVERY time, they are sure that they’re gonna get it right THIS time.
But I’ve gotta thank them for all of the laughs – this is better than “reality” TV and Judge Judy rolled together!
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Hi from Dallas, linked from HA. Excellent article and great comments, all.
Love your blog, been browsing around…
Well, of course they’re going to get it right – THEY’RE the ones doing it, this time.
Until it fails. Then it’s the system, or the comrades or the conspiracy or something…
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Howdy – thanks for dropping by!
I’m so glad you like my little blog ~
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